Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Mount Arlington’s library runs 1 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Mount Arlington Public Library serves Mount Arlington’s 5,909 residents. Last year it lent 24K print books and media and logged 7,500 visits.
What’s behind Mount Arlington’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Mount Arlington is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns, #376 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Mount Arlington’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Mount Arlington’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($69K–$115K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Mount Arlington
3.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.2%
6.2% of Mount Arlington’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.2% in the typical New Jersey town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Mount Arlington’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Mount Arlington Public Library serves 5,909 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
24K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 36K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
6 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Mount Arlington last year.
Find it
Mount Arlington Pub. Lib., 333 Howard Boulevard, Mount Arlington.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Mount Arlington? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.30 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mount Arlington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $281K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $365K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $281K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 2,763 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Mount Arlington ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roxbury Township | Roxbury Public Library fine-free | 6.5 | 57 | B |
| Jefferson Township | Jefferson Twsp. Pub. Lib. | 5.4 | 72 | C |
| Mount Arlington | Mount Arlington Pub. Lib. | 4.1 | 44 | D |
| Landing | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Hopatcong | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Ledgewood | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Lake Hopatcong | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Mount Arlington Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Mount Arlington
Does Mount Arlington have a public library?
Yes. Mount Arlington Public Library, 333 Howard Boulevard, serves Mount Arlington’s 5,909 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mount Arlington Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Mount Arlington’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 4.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Mount Arlington’s civic life grade?
D Mount Arlington is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns on civic life, #376 of 466 in New Jersey. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Mount Arlington.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.